Just as the twelve sons of Jacob existed as the foundations of natural Israel at its beginning, so it was true to type that the twelve foundations of spiritual Israel (built upon the Chief Foundation, Jesus Christ) be present at the time of establishment of the Christian congregation, at Pentecost. When about 120 of the disciples gathered in an upper room on Pentecost day, they were in expectation of being baptized in holy spirit, because Jesus had told them at the time of his ascension ten days earlier that it would not be “many days.” (Acts 1:5, 8) There the Christian congregation began, and about 3,000 were built upon the foundation that very day. Now, no foundation is brought into a building after the erection of its superstructure has begun. So it does not seem that God would hold open Judas’ vacated place, awaiting Saul’s (Paul’s) conversion. God evidently acted then on the prayer of the assembled disciples. Accordingly the lot indicated Jehovah’s choice of Matthias.​—Prov. 16:33.

In the description of New Jerusalem, the heavenly city in which Jehovah and Jesus Christ are seen as dwelling, we read: “The wall of the city also had twelve foundation stones, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:2, 14) The evidence just presented leads to the conclusion that the name of Matthias, not Paul, was on one of the twelve stones. Matthias was an apostle right from the foundation (Pentecost, 33 C.E.) of the spiritual nation of 144,000 making up New Jerusalem, Christ’s “bride.” (2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 21:2) True, Paul wrote many inspired letters. But the first of these came about seventeen years after the spiritual nation was founded, at a time when the nation had already grown to include thousands of persons.

Therefore, the evidence indicates that Paul was not one of the twelve apostles, the secondary foundations of New Jerusalem.